San Andreas: The Uncanny Valley (Fault Line?) Of Disaster Movies

Not pictured: Channing Tatum

It may seem strange to compare a disaster movie to a theory on robotics but San Andreas is an earthquake movie starring The Rock so comparisons to strong creatures with limited, if any, emotional range are purely coincidental.  The Uncanny Valley is a theory, pictured above to the extent any theory can be, that says as robots become more and more human-like there is a moment where our emotional reaction to them dips before coming back up.  To the left of the valley the robots are so unlike humans that we perceive them as curiosities.  To the right of the valley the robots are close enough to humans that we can have positive emotional responses to them.  But that moment when the robot is close to being a human without getting it right and instead it is just…creepy–that is the Uncanny Valley.  And San Andreas is the Uncanny Valley of disaster movies.  There’s a lot to discuss here and some of it involves spoilers, so you can read more after the break.

WARNING: THE REST OF THE POST CONTAINS SAN ANDREAS SPOILERS, TO THE EXTENT THAT A DISASTER MOVIE REVIEW CAN ACTUALLY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Dust Off Your VCR And Get Ready To Watch…Breaking Bad???

For April Fool’s Day, Artist Julien Knez designed a series of fake VHS covers for modern TV shows and movies.  They were too good not to share the rest after the break.